4 wheel anti lock brakes. BOOO

[1fst400]

I have been driving around a family members ford ranger till mine is up and on the road. I have had it for about a month. Take care of it and stuff. Just had 500$ of repairs done on sensors and engine codes.

Anyways. we got a real snow storm for the first time tonight. I went to the movies with my GF. as the conditions got worse I could not stop the truck. I would push the brake petal and the anti locks would kick in and it would have NO absolutly None for stoping power.

It was way unsafe. I couldent stop. I coasted into a lighted parking lot and tracked doun which fuse controls the anti lock brakes and took it out. The truck was soooo much easier to stop. At least it would slide instead of doing nothing!!

In the manual it said it had 4 wheel anti lock brakes. Does any one eltse have this issue? It was horrible, and feel bad for anyone that has to drive a car like that.

[miller821]

Downfall to ABS is that they don't work good in the snow in the first place; which is when we really need them the most:ermm: It's great for rain and gravel situations though.

I coudn't really tell what you were saying, but i'd wait til the snow/ice melted and till it rained. That way you can test your ABS in rain conditions, then you'll be able to tell if the snow was the biggest factor; or if your ABS is messed up.

[Ralph]

The abs on my c230 works like a dream in the snow. I feel like ive been living on a lake for the past two weeks since it snows an inch or two everyday and the roads are constantly icy and snow covered.

Much better compared to some of the other cars ive driven around in up here. i just get scared to death in anything else.

[ShiftFMX]

haha, the ABS doest work in my F250 anyways...I learned to pump the brakes, lol

[knighttime]

I never really thought they worked great on snow. sometimes it seems like they lock up and my truck just slides. ive found that when they slide, ill let off the brake, then press it again and the stopping is better then.

[1fst400]

I typed that at like 1:00am so I was a little tired. lol.


But there must be some sensor that is kicking in way to early. Because event when it is rainy out it kicks in some times. And if the road is glazed over with packed snow, forget it.

Last night I thot I was going to crash at one point. I could NOT stop. And I was barly moving. I would have been better off puting my foot out the door and going fred flinstone style. Last seccond I had no choice and put it in reverse and floored it. The truck kicked sideways and It did stop me. It did not seem to harm the truck much at all, the road was so slipery and I wasent going more than 10mph.

[underpowered]

sounds like it is way to sensitive. just got an 03 silverado, my first vehicle that has ABS, and it rarely kiicks in even in the snow. i still prefer driving without ABS though.

[hardkoratvmxr]

i did the same thing with my ranger. i just took out the fuse for the abs and it is much better in the snow

[Ralph]

Originally posted by underpowered
sounds like it is way to sensitive. just got an 03 silverado, my first vehicle that has ABS, and it rarely kiicks in even in the snow. i still prefer driving without ABS though.

wait till your going 70 and you need to stop quick.

[Ralph]

ironic http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=280553

[ny300exrider]

my abs kicked in yesterday morning on the way to school, bout half an inch of the road. i started skidding sideways to the stopsign......pumped the brakes for the rest of the 20 stop signs and it worked fine. it sure is an uncomfortable feeling when your hitting the brakes and nothing happens though!

[1fst400]

QUOTE] ny300exrider "it sure is an uncomfortable feeling when your hitting the brakes and nothing happens though!"[/QUOTE]


Its so true. when Im slidning sideways because the tires are locked up. I feel so more in control than when i push the petal and it does absolutly nothing.

[ShiftFMX]

Or when you slam on your brakes and try to turn but you keep going straight! :eek2: :eek:

[Ace Sixx]

http://www.mucda.mb.ca/aboutabs.htm

and

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/lh/abs.htm

[JW450R1]

what year range is this.is the light on or is it flahing.u really need to check the abs moduale for codes to diag. it properly

[1fst400]

It is a 99 ranger.


I have a feeling that the rear brake adjusters are stuck so the rear brakes arent working a whole lot.

There is nothing in the computer saying that there is anything wrong. I just had it taken to a ford dealer, I know a mechanic that works there... He found all sorts of stuff for me to fix throu his computer. it was a speed sensor for the tranny, and some sort of a o2 sensor was bad.

[Quad18star]

A.B.S. has it's advantages and disadvantages ... they work great when you're going 60 MPH and need to slam on the brakes during the winter .. atleast it won't put you into a 360 spin and you have steering control . But the times where you need to stop in a hurry and the ABS isn't allowing you to , well that sucks !!!!

If you think stopping in 2 inches of snow is difficult , try stopping in 12 inches while driving a small car .

I encourage anyone that needs winter driving lessons to come visit me for a weekend ... I'll teach you how to drive in the snow , ice , slush , etc . ( Small fee applies)

:devil:

EDIT: I've been teaching my girlfriend how to drive for the last couple of days ( she finally went and get her license)... lesson #1 was in an empty parking lot that had a few inches of snow . I told her to floor it .... I'd pull the emergency brake and crank the wheel out of her hands .... it was her job to get the car straight again . There's no better way to learn how to control unpredictable skids and loss of control . It's the way I learnt it from my dad , and it's the way she's going to learn it . The lessons sure saved my a** a few times ... especially when you hit slush , the rear end shoots out and you're going sideways down the highway doing 60MPH and there's a snowplow comming at you .

[JW450R1]

well the o2 should be fixed ,but really has noting to do with the abs.
the vss senser in the tranny might have something to do with it.
the vss=speed senser,and might be telling the rear abs senser in your rear diff. false information.....

[Sjorge450R]

Originally posted by Ralph
wait till your going 70 and you need to stop quick.

haha i learned the hard way. I was hauling *** with my 450r in my 87 dakota within the first 2 weeks of getting my lisence.It was in the fall and there where wet leaves on the ground. The light turned red real fast and i wasnt expecting it so i slammed the brakes on (so used to driving my dads brand new Wrangler) not thinking that I didnt have ABS and the wheels locked and spun the truck complelty around almost crashing over a guard rail and dropping about 25ft. I was just like oh chit! nevertheless, i no longer slam the brakes on in my truck.....lol

[MOFO]

The ABS on my wifes GTI is top notch - especially with Blizzaks at all 4 corners! There is no question in my mind with her ABS system coupled with the performance of the Blizzaks, her car will outhandle and stop better than just about any vehicle on the road (in snow conditions).

My two other vehicles, 99 Chevy Silverado has ABS at all 4 corners and other than it being too sensitive on rough roads, it works ok... not nearly as good as VW's system. I bet VW's ABS will pulse the brakes about twice as fast as GM's. My other vehicle (work car) 2006 Chevy Impala LT does not have ABS! I was shocked to find this out....

Overall, if its a quality ABS system, it is far superior to the manual pumping. As usual, the germans have it figured out.

[bulkdriverlp]

abs is much safer that without. if it wasnt then why do most all vehicles have 4wheel abs brakes. the censors apply and release your individual brakes to prevent you from going into a skid. you wont stop much quicker just holding the brake pedal and sliding, try it sometime.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by bulkdriverlp
abs is much safer that without. if it wasnt then why do most all vehicles have 4wheel abs brakes. the censors apply and release your individual brakes to prevent you from going into a skid. you wont stop much quicker just holding the brake pedal and sliding, try it sometime.

True.... but as everyone knows if you do not have ABS, the worst thing you can do is just stand on the brakes... you need to pump them.

With that said, ABS will pump the brakes faster than any person on this board... which makes it a better system IMO.

[400exstud]

I agree with MOFO. ABS is the way to go. There are some times when the conditions get so bad that you can't go 10 over the speed limit, and you just have to take it easy or you'll find the ditch (my friends are great examples of this). I have been following one of my friends when he was going along, hit ice, touched the breaks (not ABS), the car spun sideways, and the ice ended while he was going completely sideways down the road. You've probably already figured where he ended up going.

[Honda400exrox]

aha you yanks just need to learn how to drive in the snow. I've been drivin my moms civic to school and to work, and ive only had problems when it froze rain, and everything had about 2 inches of ice on it, then a layer of snow over top, the civic has bald summertires, thank god for manual shifting, down shifting is great in the winter, it'll stop yeah

[JW450R1]

LOL;)

[Blue250X]

Originally posted by Honda400exrox
aha you yanks just need to learn how to drive in the snow. I've been drivin my moms civic to school and to work, and ive only had problems when it froze rain, and everything had about 2 inches of ice on it, then a layer of snow over top, the civic has bald summertires, thank god for manual shifting, down shifting is great in the winter, it'll stop yeah

Hey now. Just because there is more dumbasses down here than there doesn't mean we all cant drive:blah: But you know what amazes me? Yesterday morning I am shoveling my driveway and some guy pulls in and walks down the road like something flew out of the back of his truck. I look to see where he is walking and there is a Chevy Trailblazer sitting in a ditch. The girl driver (thats the problem right there lol) went off the road..hit a phone pole hard enough to break it completly off, went through a fence, and went into a huge ditch and ended up straddleing (sp?) it. Then about 10 min later we come back out to see a Dakota sitting the the ditch (other side of the road) with a jeep right behind it who slid off the road. Then while walking across the road I almost fell because of the ice. And me, my two uncles, and my dad are walking across the road and we look ahead and there is some idiot passing the other cars. We run our asses off to get out of the way for when he wrecks..luckily the *** didn't wreck. Some people just can't get there fast enough:rolleyes:

[MOFO]

Originally posted by Honda400exrox
aha you yanks just need to learn how to drive in the snow. I've been drivin my moms civic to school and to work, and ive only had problems when it froze rain, and everything had about 2 inches of ice on it, then a layer of snow over top, the civic has bald summertires, thank god for manual shifting, down shifting is great in the winter, it'll stop yeah


You drive with BALD tires on ice and snow.... and your going to give out lessons? :rolleyes: Come to Pittsburgh with your "snow" setup... I'd love you see you drive around here... :o

Make sure you pack good walking boots!

[firefighterjosh]

MY ABS on my ranger works great. I don't belive it is ABS in the rear but I could be wrong. But My ABS will kick in and it dosen't seem like it will stop so I will hold the ABS for maybe sec or 2 then pump it and hold again. Sometimes it seems to make the ABS kick in better or something. I just tried it out a few times and it worked. But I don't count on it working every time

[Lonestar_R]

Well if your Ranger is a 4WD and you had it in 4WD the ABS won't work......I had a 2001 4WD Ranger and if I had it in 4WD the ABS never worked.....Now my 2004 Ranger it does work. But also if you aren't going fast enough the ABS won't work either. My wife has a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer and if you don't go fast enough, like comming down my driveway which is pretty steep and isn't real long they won't work and she couldn't figure out why they wouldn't. I hope this helps you out some.

[bwamos]

ABS works well at the right speeds in the right conditions. That being said I opted against ABS on my Wrangler. There are times when you want your brakes to lock up.

However, IMHO ABS should be shut OFF below 5-10mph unless the ABS kicked in above that range.

Originally posted by MOFO
You drive with BALD tires on ice and snow.... and your going to give out lessons? :rolleyes: Come to Pittsburgh with your "snow" setup... I'd love you see you drive around here... :o

Make sure you pack good walking boots!

yah cause pittsburg gets insane amounts of snow, have you ever seen a good canadian winter? your probably like the rest of the us, think that 2 inches of snow is a lot:rolleyes:

[ilpadrino113]

ya anti lock is crap. Any halfway decent driver doesn't need em.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by mitch091
yah cause pittsburg gets insane amounts of snow, have you ever seen a good canadian winter? your probably like the rest of the us, think that 2 inches of snow is a lot:rolleyes:

If someone suggests they are driving around in the snow with bald front tires, either you dont have any snow or hills covered in snow.

Pittsburgh probably has more hills than most, and if you have bald tires, your not going anywhere when it snows! Has nothing to do with the driver - its pure physics!!!

Also, how is driving with bald tires a good thing - especially from someone who is going to teach us all how to drive in snow! :rolleyes: ...which was my point that you clearly missed.

[Pappy]

Originally posted by ilpadrino113
ya anti lock is crap. Any halfway decent driver doesn't need em.

the sad part is the majority of drivers arent halfway decent